Affiliation and disaffiliation of computing devices

ABSTRACT

Techniques described herein may provide for affiliation and disaffiliation of devices, such as office communication devices, associated with a user. The affiliation/disaffiliation may be performed using a mobile device (e.g., a smart phone). In one implementation, a method may include receiving a request to affiliate a user with one or more office devices; and receiving context data, from a mobile device, relating to a current context of the mobile device. The method may further include determining, based on the context data, to authorize the affiliation of the user with the one or more office devices; and provisioning, based on the determination to authorize the affiliation, the one or more office devices to customize the one or more office devices for the user.

BACKGROUND

“Hoteling” and “hot desking” refer to techniques for supportingunassigned seating in an office environment. Both techniques arecommonly used in business environments in which an office worker spendsa limited amount of time at a desk. For example, knowledge workers,salespeople, customer representatives, and consultants may tend to spenda limited portion of their time at the office. The increasing popularityof teleworking may also contribute to a reduced presence in the office.Additionally, some workers may benefit from using different types ofworkspaces when performing different tasks. In recognition of this,companies may use hoteling and hot desking arrangements to moreefficiently use office space and equipment. Instead of assigning aworker to a permanent workspace, workers may switch between availableworkspaces.

Hoteling may refer to unassigned seating of workspaces in which a workermay first reserve a particular workspace. Hot desking may refer toreservationless assignment of workspaces. With either technique, aworker that wishes to use a particular workspace may, after arriving atthe workspace, spend time configuring the workspace. Configuring aworkspace may include entering worker credentials (e.g., user name andpasswords) to log in to office devices (e.g., telephones, computingdevices, etc.) at the workspace and/or to otherwise cause the officedevices to be provisioned for the worker.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1A-1D are diagrams illustrating an example of an overview ofconcepts described herein;

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example environment in which systemsand/or methods described herein may be implemented;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of functional components ofan affiliation component;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating an example process relating toaffiliation and disaffiliation of a workstation;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example process relating to thedetermination of context data;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example process relating tosuspending functionality of devices associated with a workspace;

FIG. 7 illustrates a signal flow diagram of example operations foraffiliating a user with a target affiliation device;

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example system that may be used toassist in resolving connectivity issues for devices associated with aworkstation; and

FIG. 9 is a diagram of example components of a device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings.The same reference numbers in different drawings may identify the sameor similar elements.

Techniques described herein may provide for convenient affiliation anddisaffiliation of devices, such as office communication devices,associated with a user. The affiliation/disaffiliation may be performedusing a mobile device (e.g., a smart phone). The mobile device may beused to detect nearby devices that are eligible for affiliation and mayassist in the authentication and authorization of the devices. In oneimplementation, in response to successful authentication andauthorization, the devices may be provisioned. For example, for anoffice telephone, the telephone may be automatically assigned atelephone number associated with the user and configured with call logdata corresponding to previous calls of the user.

Techniques described herein may also operate to assist in convenientlydisaffiliating the user with previously affiliated devices. For example,a user may “check out” of a workspace by selecting a “disaffiliate”option on an application implemented by the user's mobile device. Asanother example, the user's mobile device may monitor the user's currentlocation with respect to the workspace, and may automaticallydisaffiliate the affiliated devices (e.g., unprovision the affiliateddevices by removing all personal information relating to the user) orplace the affiliated devices in a “suspend” mode, in which theaffiliated devices cannot be used by other users.

FIGS. 1A-1D are diagrams illustrating an example of an overview ofconcepts described herein. In FIGS. 1A-1D, an example will be providedof automatic affiliation and disaffiliation of a user, with a workspacethat includes an office communication device (e.g., a desktoptelephone).

As shown in FIG. 1A, a user may be associated with a mobile device, suchas a smart phone. The user may be an employee of a company that useshoteling (or hot desking) techniques to manage workspaces. Eachworkspace may include devices, such as telephones, personal computers,network devices, printers, and/or other communication or computingdevices that may be used by the employees of the company in the courseof business. In this example, an office communication device (e.g., adesktop telephone) is illustrated as being associated with a workspace.

Consistent with implementations described herein, the user may indicate,such as through an application executing at the mobile device, a desireto affiliate with the office communication device. In response, themobile device may discover nearby office communication devices. Forexample, the mobile device and the office communication device maycommunicate with a remote affiliation component and/or the mobile deviceand the office communication device may directly discover one another(e.g., via a short range wireless connection such as Bluetooth, Wi-FiDirect, or another technique). The mobile device may thus identify theoffice communication device, determine the location of the officecommunication device, determine the availability of the officecommunication device (e.g., whether the office communication device isavailable for the user or is being used by another user), and/ordetermine capabilities associated with the office communication device.In some implementations, an unaffiliated office communication device maydisplay a message such as “available.” In this example, device discoverymay simply refer to the user noticing the message on the officecommunication device.

The mobile device may inform the user of nearby available officecommunication devices and may provide the user with an option toinitiate affiliation. In the example shown in FIG. 1B, officecommunication devices that are available for affiliation may display abar code, such as a quick response (QR) code. The user may initiateaffiliation with the office communication device by scanning the QR codewith the user's mobile device. The QR code may include, for example, anidentifier associated with the office communication device.Additionally, the QR code may include network information related to theoffice equipment (e.g., IP address, network connections, etc.) and/orsecurity information (e.g., what mobile devices can communicate directlywith this office equipment, what users can affiliate with this officeequipment, etc.).

In some situations, an initial authentication, authorization, andaccounting (AAA) process may be performed to verify the user is eligibleto affiliate with the office communication device. The AAA process maybe performed automatically by the user's mobile device based on contextinformation associated with the mobile device (e.g., a current locationof the mobile device, network connection information associated with themobile device, and/or other information associated with the officecommunication device).

As shown in FIG. 1C, in this example, after scanning in the QR code, themobile device may prompt the user to verify that the user wishes toaffiliate with the office communication device. When the user verifiesthat the user would like to affiliate with the office communicationdevice, a provisioning process may be initiated. The provisioningprocess may include downloading configuration information to the officecommunication device that is specific to the particular user. Forexample, the office communication device may be assigned a telephonenumber associated with the user and may receive call history information(e.g., a recent history of telephone calls made and received at thetelephone number) associated with the user. Additionally, the officecommunication device may receive additional user information such as theuser's contact list/address book and/or communications preferences. Asillustrated in FIG. 1D, when the office communication device issuccessfully provisioned, the mobile device may display a messageindicating successful affiliation of the office communication devicewith the user.

With the example affiliation process illustrated in FIGS. 1A-1D, a usermay initiate affiliation with a workspace using the user's mobiledevice. The affiliation process may be a relatively convenient processthat may potentially be performed from the user's mobile device.Authentication and/or authorization may be performed automatically basedon information associated with the mobile device and/or the officecommunication device. The affiliation process may customize theworkspace for the particular user.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example environment 200, in whichsystems and/or methods described herein may be implemented. As shown inFIG. 2, environment 200 may include affiliation component 210, hotelingentities 220-1 through 220-N (where N is an integer >=1), mobile devices230-1 though 230-K (where K is an integer >=1), and network 240.

Affiliation component 210 may include one or more computing devices thatperform operations relating to affiliating and disaffiliating ofworkspaces with users. Affiliation component 210 may be implemented byan entity that offers affiliation and disaffiliation operations as aservice. For example, affiliation component 210 may be maintained ormanaged by a telecommunications company, such as one that operatesnetwork 240 and/or that provides telecommunication services to hotelingentities 220. In other implementations, affiliation component 210 may bemaintained by another entity, such as one of hoteling entities 220.Affiliation component 210 may perform, for example, AAA functionsrelating to device affiliation, context management relating to deviceaffiliation, and endpoint provisioning and management control relatingto device affiliation. Operations performed by affiliation component 210will be discussed in more detail below.

Hoteling entities 220-1 through 220-N (hereinafter sometimes referred toindividually as “hoteling entity 220” and collectively as “hotelingentities 220”) may each represent a business, office, or other entitythat implements hoteling or hot desking to share office resources. Asused herein, shared office resources will be referred to as workspaces225-1 through 225-J (hereinafter sometimes referred to individually as“workspace 225” and collectively as “workspaces 225”, where J is aninteger >=1). Each workspace 225 may represent a cubicle, desk, officeor other area that includes one or more devices 227 that may be assignedto a user that uses workspace 225. In one implementation, each device227 may be a computing device that may be provisioned based oninformation specific to a particular user. For example, when device 227includes a telephone, device 227 may be provisioned to include thetelephone number and a call history log associated with the user. Whendevice 227 includes a desktop computer, device 227 may be provisioned toinclude files, application permissions, or other customizationinformation relating to the user. In addition to a telephone and adesktop computer, devices 227 may be, as non-limiting examples, tabletcomputers, wearable computers, video conferencing systems, entertainmentsystems, electronic whiteboard systems, other communication andcollaboration systems, etc.

Mobile devices 230-1 through 230-K (hereinafter sometimes referred toindividually as “mobile device 230” and collectively as “mobile devices230”), may each include any computation and communication device, suchas a wireless mobile communication device that is capable ofcommunicating with affiliation component 210 via network 240. Mobiledevices may be associated with users that may use workspaces 225. Mobiledevices 230 may include, for example, a radiotelephone; a personalcommunications system (“PCS”) terminal (e.g., a device that combines acellular radiotelephone with data processing and data communicationscapabilities); a personal digital assistant (“PDA”) (e.g., a device thatincludes a radiotelephone, a pager, Internet/intranet access, etc.); asmart phone; a laptop computer; a tablet computer; a camera; a personalgaming system; a smart watch (e.g., watches that can perform task anddisplay information to a user by connecting to a local or remoteserver); a pair of smart glasses (e.g., glasses capable of connecting tolocal or remote servers containing a way to display information to auser), or another type of mobile computation and communication device.

Network 240 may represent a wireless network (e.g., a wireless cellularnetwork) and/or a wired network through which mobile devices 230 and/orhoteling entities 220 may communicate. Network 240 may include a widearea network (“WAN”), a metropolitan area network (“MAN”), the Internet,a fiber optic-based network, and/or a combination of these or othertypes of networks. In one implementation, network 240 may include awireless network that is implemented based on the Long Term Evolution(“LTE”) standard. In other implementations, network 240 may include awireless network implemented based on other standards, such as a CodeDivision Multiple Access (“CDMA”) 2000 1× network, a second generation(“2G”) wireless network, a third generation (“3G”) wireless network, afourth generation (“4G”) wireless network, a fifth generation (“5G”)wireless network, a “Wi-Fi” wireless network (e.g., a network thatoperates according to an Institute of Electrical and ElectronicsEngineers (“IEEE”) 802.11 standard), and/or another wireless network. Insome implementations, network 240 may be communicatively coupled to oneor more other networks.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of functional components ofaffiliation component 210. The functional components of affiliationcomponent 210 may be implemented on one or more computing devices (e.g.,computer servers) or network devices. As illustrated, affiliationcomponent 210 may include affiliation controller 310, AAA component 320,subscriber and service data component 330, endpoint provisioning andmanagement controller 340, communications history component 350, andcontext manager component 360. Endpoint provisioning and managementcontroller 340, as is further illustrated in FIG. 3, may include devicemanagement component 344 and device data repository 346. Context managercomponent 360 may include device context component 364 and networkinformation component 366.

Affiliation controller 310 may include one or more computing devicesthat act as a control point for the performance of affiliation services.Affiliation controller 310 may, for example, receive affiliationrequests from mobile devices 230 and/or devices associated withworkspaces 225. Affiliation controller 310 may access components 320-366to respond to the requests.

AAA component 320 may include one or more devices that performauthentication, authorization, and/or accounting functions relating toaffiliation and disaffiliation. Authentication may refer to thedetermination of whether a particular user or a particular mobile device230 is in fact the user/mobile device 230 that is being claimed. In someimplementations, a user may be authenticated, by AAA component 320,based on the user using a particular mobile device 230, that waspreviously registered as being possessed by the user, to perform theaffiliation. In other implementations, AAA component 320 may requireadditional information to authenticate a particular user (e.g., the usermay also be required to enter a password, the user may be required toperform biometric authentication). Authorization may refer to thedetermination of whether a particular user is authorized to use aparticular workspace 225. In some implementations, hoteling entity 220may maintain a number of different types of workspaces 225. Some typesof workspaces 225 may only be usable by certain employees (e.g., an“accounting” workspace 225 may only be useable by employees that areassigned to the accounting department of the company). AAA component 320may maintain authorization information, for employees of a company, thatindicates which workspaces 225 each employee is authorized to use.Accounting functions may relate to keeping track of which employees useand/or are currently using particular workspaces 225 and/or theresources used by the employees. AAA component 320 may maintain one ormore data structures that may be updated to keep track of accountinginformation.

Subscriber and service data component 330 may include one or morecomputing devices that store data about subscribers (e.g., users ofmobile devices 230) and/or services relating to the subscribers. In oneimplementation, subscriber and service data component 330 may bemaintained by an operator of network 240, and may include informationrelating to mobile devices 230, such as: subscriber profiles, atelephone number, an International Mobile Equipment Identity (“IMEI”)value, an International Mobile Subscriber Identity (“IMSI”) value,capabilities of mobile devices 230, subscribed services associated withmobile devices 230, and/or other information. Alternatively oradditionally, subscriber and service data component 330 may storeadditional information, such as corporate directories, contactlists/address books, single sign-on (“SSO”) credentials, universalidentity service credentials, etc. Information stored by subscriber andservice data component 330 may be used during the AAA process. In someimplementations, subscriber and service data component 330 mayadditionally store information, such as the information mentioned above,for devices 227 that are associated with workspaces 225.

Endpoint provisioning and management controller 340 may include one ormore computing devices that perform automated provisioning of devicesassociated with workspaces 225. Endpoint provisioning and managementcontroller 340 may include device management component 344 and devicedata repository 346. Device management component 344 may include, forexample, logic to remotely provision devices (e.g., telephones,computers, other computing devices, etc.). Device data repository 346may include may include information relating to different devices thatmay be provisioned. For example, device data repository 346 may includeinformation relating to specific devices (e.g., device-specificpasswords and/or other device specific information), specific devicemake/model of devices, and/or other information. Endpoint provisioningand management controller 340 may use the device provisioning logic ofdevice management component 344 and the device specific data associatedwith device data repository 346 to automatically provision particulardevices as part of the affiliation of the devices with users.

Communications history component 350 may include one or more devicesthat store information relating to user communication history. Theinformation may include, for example, call log data for users, user webbrowser requests, or other types of data relating to previous usercommunications. The information, stored by communications historycomponent 350, can potentially be downloaded as part of a deviceaffiliation process, so that a user can view his or her communicationhistory (e.g., call log history, browser history, etc.) as if the userworked at a single workstation.

Context manager component 360 may include one or more computing devicesthat monitor and use device context and/or network informationassociated with mobile device 230. Context manager 360 may includedevice context component 364 and network information component 366. Thenetwork information and/or device context information, stored by devicecontext component 364, may generally include information that is knownabout a user based on the physical location of the user (e.g., asobtained via a GPS unit associated with the user's mobile device) and/orbased on particular networks to which mobile device 230 is connected.For example, with regard to network information, context manager 360 maymaintain information relating to a current cell site, associated withnetwork 240, to which mobile device 230 is connected, as well as to aparticular Wi-Fi access point, within hoteling entity 220, to whichmobile device 230 is connected. Device context component 364 maymaintain information relating to a context of mobile device 230 and/ordevices 227, such as the physical location. Network informationcomponent 366 may maintain network context information. The networkcontext may refer to information, obtained based on networkconnectivity, relating to network connectivity of mobile device 230and/or devices 227.

While FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrate example components of environment 200, inother implementations, environment 200 may contain fewer components,different components, differently arranged components, or additionalcomponents than those depicted. Alternatively, or additionally, one ormore components of environment 200 may perform one or more other tasksdescribed as being performed by one or more other components ofenvironment 200.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating an example process 400 relating toaffiliation and disaffiliation of a workstation. Process 400 may beperformed by affiliation component 210. Alternatively or additionally,process 400 may be performed by a combination of affiliation component210, devices 227, and/or mobile devices 230.

A user of mobile device 230 may desire to affiliate with one or moredevices 227 at a particular workspace 225. For example, a salesperson ofa particular hoteling entity 220 may visit the office a few days a week.When at the office, the salesperson may choose an available workspace(e.g., an available desk with a desktop telephone and desktop computer).The salesperson may indicate, such as through an application implementedby the salesperson's mobile device 230 (e.g., a smart phone), that thesalesperson wishes to use a particular available workspace 225 andaffiliate with the corresponding devices 227. Mobile device 230 maytransmit the affiliation request to affiliation component 210.

Process 400 may include receiving the affiliation request (block 410).The affiliation request may include an indication of the workspace thatis to be affiliated. For example, mobile device 230 may display agraphical map of workspaces 225, including an indication of which ofworkspaces 225 are available. The user may select a desired availableworkspace 225. As another example, each workspace 225 at a particularhoteling entity 220 may include a code or other identifier of workspace225. For instance, in the example shown in FIG. 1B, a device 227 (e.g.,an office communication device) may display a QR code which may bescanned by mobile device 230. The affiliation request may also includean identifier of mobile device 230 (e.g., the telephone number oranother unique identifier associated with mobile device 230). As anotherexample, mobile device 230 may communicate with nearby workspaces 225,such as via a short range wireless communication technique (e.g., usingBluetooth, near field communication, or Wi-Fi Direct), to obtain a listof nearby workspaces that are available for affiliation. Mobile device230 may provide a list of the nearby workspaces 225, to the user ofmobile device 230, for selection of a desired workspace. In oneimplementation, block 410 may be performed by affiliation controller 310of affiliation component 210.

Process 400 may further include determining a context associated with amobile device and/or with a target affiliation device (block 420). Formobile device 230, the context may include context that is based on themobile device (mobile device context) and context associated withnetwork connectivity of the mobile device (network context). The mobiledevice context may include a location of mobile device 230, such asgeographic location based on a GPS data from mobile device 230.Alternatively or additionally, the context may include otherinformation, such as an indication of computing devices that are nearmobile device 230. For example, mobile device 230 may communicate withnearby devices 227, such as via a short range wireless communicationtechnique or via near field communication (“NFC”) techniques, to obtainan approximate location of mobile device 230 (e.g., expressed as arelative location that is “nearby” a device 227 or, if the location ofdevice 227 is known, as an absolute location). The mobile device contextmay include additional information, such as the operating status ofmobile device (e.g., applications executing by the mobile device, anoperating system installed at the mobile device, security level of themobile device, other capabilities of the mobile device, etc.). Stillfurther, the mobile device context may include data received via sensorsof the mobile device (e.g., an image taken by a camera, accelerometerdata, radio frequency identification (“RFID”) sensors, NFC tags, etc.).

The network context of mobile device 230 may include informationrelating to networks to which mobile device 230 is connected. Theinformation may include, for example, a cell site (e.g., in a cellularnetwork) to which mobile device 230 is connected and/or the networktechnology used to connect to the cell site, a Wi-Fi access point towhich mobile device 230 is connected, or other information relating tonetwork context.

For a target affiliation device, the context may include the location ofthe device, the operating status of the device, provisioning datarelating to the device, networks to which the device is connected,security level of the device, etc. The target affiliation devices mayinclude devices 227 associated with the workspace 225 to which a userwishes to be affiliated. The context may include context that is basedon device 227 and context associated with network connectivity of device227.

In one implementation, the determination of the context, as performedwith respect to block 420, may be performed by context manager 360,device context component 364, and network information component 366.

Process 400 may further include performing AAA functions relating todevice affiliation (block 430). The AAA functions may generally relateto determining that the user requesting device affiliation is authenticand that the user is authorized to affiliate with the device. In oneimplementation, the context, obtained in block 420, may be used in theperformance of the AAA functions. For example, the context (e.g.,context data associated with the mobile device and context dataassociated with the target affiliation device) may be used to generate acontext confidence score that may be used to authenticate the user ofthe mobile device that transmitted the affiliation request. In oneimplementation, the AAA function may be determined to be successful whenthe confidence score satisfies a threshold. In other implementations,AAA component 320 may require information in addition to theautomatically acquired context to authenticate a particular user (e.g.,the user may also be required to enter a password). Additionally, aspreviously mentioned, in some implementations, AAA component 320 maymaintain authorization information that may be used to determine whethera particular user is authorized to be affiliated with certain devices227.

Process 400 may further include, when the AAA is successful (block440—YES), provisioning the target affiliation devices (block 450). Inone implementation, provisioning of the target affiliation devices maybe performed by endpoint provisioning and management controller 340.Endpoint provisioning and management controller 340 may communicate withdevices 227 to customize devices 227 for the affiliating user. Examplesof devices that may be provisioned, to be customized for a particularuser include: telephones, computers, tablet computers, or other devices.In some implementations, the context may be used to assist in or enablethe provisioning process. For example, the network context of the mobiledevice and/or the target affiliation devices (e.g., whether the mobiledevice and target affiliation device is connected to a particular Wi-Finetwork) may be used to determine whether to provision the targetaffiliation device to directly communicate with the mobile device via aWi-Fi Direct or Bluetooth communication link.

Process 400 may further include, when the AAA is not successful (block450—No), outputting an indication of the affiliation failure (block460). For example, mobile device 230 may indicate, to the user, that theaffiliation was not successfully completed.

In one implementation, provisioning a device that includes a telephonemay include updating an emergency services database with a currentlocation of the telephone. In this situation, correct E-911configuration information may be maintained for the telephone.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example process 500 relating tothe determination of context for a mobile device or a target affiliationdevice. Process 500 may correspond to block 420 of FIG. 4. Process 500may be performed by affiliation component 210. Alternatively oradditionally, process 400 may be performed by a combination ofaffiliation component 210, devices 227, and/or mobile devices 230.

Process 500 may include determining the context associated with themobile device and the target affiliation device (block 510). Thecontext, for the mobile device, may include information relating to thecurrent state of mobile device 230, such as a location of the mobiledevice, information relating to other devices that are near mobiledevice 230, information obtained by sensors associated with mobiledevice 230 (e.g., acceleration data from an accelerometer, image datafrom a camera, audio data from a microphone, etc.) or other informationrelating to the state of mobile device 230. The context, for the targetaffiliation device, may similarly include information relating to thecurrent state of the target affiliation device, such as a location ofthe target affiliation device, or other information relating to thestate of the target affiliation device.

Process 500 may further include determining the network data associatedwith the mobile device and the target affiliation device (block 520).The network data, for mobile device 230, may include informationrelating to networks to which mobile device 230 is connected. Thenetwork data may include, for example, a cell site (i.e., in a cellularnetwork) to which mobile device 230 is connected, a Wi-Fi access pointto which mobile device 230 is connected, parameters or configurationinformation relating to network connectivity of mobile device 230 (e.g.,whether a radio interface associated with mobile device 230 is based onLTE, Enhanced Voice-Data Optimized (EVDO), etc.), etc. Similarly, forthe target affiliation device, the network data may include informationrelating to networks to which the target affiliation device isconnected.

Process 500 may further include obtaining provisioning data relating tothe target affiliation device (block 530). In one implementation, theprovisioning data may be obtained, for example, from endpointprovisioning and management controller 340, which may obtain theprovisioning data from device manager component 344 and/or device datarepository 346.

Process 500 may further include obtaining communication history datarelating to the user (block 540). In one implementation, thecommunication history data may be obtained from communication historycomponent 350. The communication history data may include, for example,call log data for the user from a previously affiliated device (e.g., apreviously affiliated desktop telephone), user web browser requests madeby the user at one or more devices, or other types of data relating toprevious user communications.

Process 500 may further include calculating a confidence score (block550). The confidence score may relate to the affiliation request, suchthat the confidence score may be based on data associated with themobile device that transmitted the affiliation request and based on dataassociated with the target affiliation device. The confidence score maybe a value calculated based the data obtained/determined in blocks510-540. The confidence score may be calculated to relate to thelikelihood that the mobile device should be authenticated and/orauthorized for the affiliation request. In some implementations,multiple separate confidence scores may be determined, such as a firstconfidence score relating to the network connectivity associated withmobile device 230 and/or device 227 and a second confidence scorerelating to context data for mobile device 230.

As an example of the calculation of a confidence score, assume asituation in which a user wishes to affiliate with a workspace thatincludes a desktop IMS-VoIP (“IP Multimedia Subsystem Voice over IP”)telephone. Mobile device 230, of the user, may be at a geographiclocation near the workspace of the telephone and may include cellularnetwork connectivity to a cellular network and to a Wi-Fi network. Theconnected cellular network may be a network that is known to be assignedto the user of mobile device 230 and the Wi-Fi network may be a networkthat is known to be operated by hoteling entity 220-1. In thissituation, the confidence score may be calculated as a relatively highvalue as the mobile device context and the network data associated withthe mobile device may be known as “good” data that is expected for themobile device.

At some point, it may be desirable to disaffiliate a user with aworkspace 225. For example, a user may explicitly indicate (e.g.,through an application implemented by mobile device 230) that the userhas finished using workspace 225. In this situation, devices 227,associated with workspace 225, may be disaffiliated such thatinformation pertaining to the user of workspace 225 may be erased frommemory of devices 227. Additionally, affiliation component 210 may markthe workspace corresponding to the disaffiliated devices as “free” or“available” for affiliation. Alternatively or additionally,disaffiliation may be explicitly indicated by the user throughinteraction with device 227 (e.g., by pressing a button or series ofbuttons on a desktop telephone).

In some implementations, disaffiliation may occur automatically based onthe occurrence of certain events. For example, affiliation component 210may initiate disaffiliation of any affiliated workspace 225 at the endof a workday, after a certain maximum affiliation time period (e.g., 10hours) has elapsed, or based on other predetermined criteria. As anotherexample, disaffiliation may be automatically performed based on the usertraveling a certain distance away from workspace 225. The distance awayfrom workspace 225 may be based on the user's physical location (e.g.,as determined by mobile device 230 using GPS techniques, cell sectortriangulation techniques, sensor-based techniques, or other techniques)or based on mobile device 230 traveling out of network range (e.g.,mobile device 230 may travel out of a range of short range wirelessstandard such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, ZigBee-based communications,Z-Wave-based communication, etc.).

In some situations, it may be desirable to place devices in workspace225 into a “suspend” mode such that unauthorized users may not be ableto use the devices. The suspend mode may correspond to a temporarydisaffiliation in which other users may not be able to affiliate withthe workspace corresponding to the temporary disaffiliation. Forexample, a telephone in suspend mode may be unusable (e.g., no dial tonewill be output when the headset is picked up).

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example process 600 relating tosuspending functionality of devices associated with a workspace. Process600 may include detecting a mobile device moving out of the vicinity ofa workspace (block 610). For example, mobile device 230, associated withparticular user, may move out of range of a workspace 225. Detection ofmobile device 230 moving out of the vicinity of workspace 225 may beperformed using one or more of a number of possible techniques. Forexample, mobile device 230 may periodically or occasionally informaffiliation component 210 of the location of mobile device 230 (e.g., alocation determined using GPS-based techniques). When the location ofmobile device 230 becomes greater than a threshold distance away fromthe location of workspace 225, affiliation component 210 may determinethat mobile device has moved out of the vicinity of workspace 225. Asanother example, the location of mobile device 230, relative toworkspace 225, may be determined based on mobile device 230 moving outof range of short range wireless communication with one of devices 227of workspace 225. Other techniques for determining the location ofmobile device 230 relative to workspace 225 may alternatively oradditionally be used.

Process 600 may further include, when the mobile device moves out of thevicinity of the workstation, suspending operation of one or more of thedevices associated with the workstation (block 620). In oneimplementation, affiliation component 210 may transmit a command todevices 227, indicating that the devices are to enter a suspend state.Alternatively or additionally, mobile device 230 may transmit thecommand to devices 227 or the devices 227 may initiate the suspendstate.

At some point, the user, and hence mobile device 230, may come back intothe vicinity of workstation 225. Process 600 may further includedetecting the mobile device moving back into the vicinity of theworkspace (block 630). When the mobile device moves back into thevicinity of the workspace, process 600 may include ending the suspendstate associated with the one or more devices (block 640). For example,affiliation component 210 may transmit a command to devices 227indicating that the devices are to exit the suspend state and resumenormal operation. Alternatively or additionally, mobile device 230 maytransmit the command to devices 227 or the devices 227 may determine toend the suspend state (e.g., if device 227 detects mobile device 230 inthe vicinity of device 227).

FIG. 7 illustrates a signal flow diagram of example operations foraffiliating a user with a target affiliation device. In this example,mobile device 230 is to be affiliated with device 227, which may includea VoIP-based desktop telephone.

As shown in FIG. 7, mobile device 230 and device 227 may perform devicediscovery techniques to discover one another (at 710). For example,mobile device 230 and device 227 may directly communicate with oneanother, such as through Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct, NFC, or anothertechnique, to discover the presence of one another. In someimplementations, mobile device 230 and device 227, as part of thediscovery process, may determine the relative locations of one another.For example, in Bluetooth-based discovery, because the range of theBluetooth signal may be relatively short, discovery of mobile device 230and device 220, via Bluetooth, may imply that the devices are close toone another.

In some implementations, device discovery may involve user interactionwith device 227. For example, as previously mentioned, the user may usemobile device 230 to scan a QR code displayed by device 227. As anotherexample, device 227 may generate an audible signal (a sound), which maybe received by mobile device 230 and analyzed to identify device 227. Inyet another example, the user may bring mobile device 230 into closeproximity of device 227 to communicate via NFC.

Alternatively or additionally to performing device discovery throughdirect communication between mobile device 230 and device 220, devicediscovery may be performed using affiliation component 210 as anintermediate device (at 715 and 720). In this situation, mobile device230 may inform affiliation component 210 of its current location and/orstatus. Similarly, device 227 may inform affiliation component 210 ofthe location and/or status. In situations in which device 227 is adevice that is fixed in a particular location (e.g., a desktop telephonethat is not designed to be moved), affiliation component 210 may storethe location of device 227 and may thus not need to dynamically obtainlocation information for device 227.

At some point, a user of mobile device 230 may indicate a desire toaffiliate with device 227. Mobile device 230 may transmit an affiliationrequest to affiliation component 210 (at 725). Affiliation component 210may obtain network and/or context data for mobile device 230 (at 730).For example, as previously mentioned, the context may include locationinformation relating to mobile device 230 and/or other informationrelating to the state of mobile device 230. The network data may includeinformation relating to networks to which mobile device 230 isconnected.

In some implementations, affiliation component 210 may also obtainnetwork and/or context data relating to device 227 (at 735). Forexample, affiliation component 210 may query device 227 to obtain anoperating state of device 227 and/or network connectivity informationrelating to device 227.

AAA functions may be performed to authenticate the user of mobile device230 and to determine whether the user is authorized to affiliate withdevice 227. In one implementation, the AAA functions may be performedautomatically (i.e., without any additional input from a user of device230) based on the network and context data (at 740). For example, aspreviously mentioned, affiliation server 210 may determine one or moreconfidence scores relating to the network and context data. When theconfidence score(s) is greater than a threshold, mobile device 230 maybe authenticated. In other implementations, the AAA functions mayinclude receiving additional input from the user. For example, mobiledevice 230 may request that the user enter a password or enter otherauthentication information (e.g., mobile device 230 may receivebiometric information, etc.). The additional input may only be required,from the user, when the confidence score is below a threshold confidencelevel.

Affiliation component 210 may provision device 227 to customize thedevice for the user of mobile device 230 (at 745). In this example,device 227 may be programmed with a telephone number corresponding tothe user and with call log history data corresponding to previous callsmade or received by the user.

Affiliation component 210 may transmit an indication of whether theaffiliation request was successful or whether the affiliation requestfailed (at 750). Mobile device 230 may display, to the user, anindication of whether the affiliation was successful. Although the abovedescription illustrated an affiliation process with one device 227associated with a workspace 225, for workspaces with multiple devices227, the affiliation process may be performed for each device 227. Inthis situation, affiliation component 210 may transmit a singleaffiliation success/fail indication (e.g., a successful affiliationrequest may be transmitted when all devices 227 successfully affiliate).

Hoteling entity 220 may operate a LAN that provides network connectivityto employees of hoteling entity 220. Devices 227, of a workspace 225,may experience difficulty connecting outside of the LAN. In thissituation, mobile device 230 may act as an intelligent proxy that can beused to assist in resolving the connectivity issues of device 227.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example system 800 that may be usedto assist in resolving connectivity issues for devices associated with aworkstation. As shown, assume that a user 805 wishes to affiliate with adevice 227 that is located at hoteling entity 220-1 and that connects toa wide area network (WAN) 810 via customer network 815, which mayinclude a LAN maintained by hoteling entity 220-1. Mobile device 230 mayalso connect to WAN 810 via cellular network 820. Both device 227 andmobile device 230 may connect to affiliation component 210.

In the example of FIG. 8, lines between devices indicate possiblecommunication paths. As shown, mobile device 230 may communicate withaffiliation component 210 (path 830), device 227 (path 835), and user805 (path 840). Path 835 may include direct communications betweenmobile device 230 and device 227, and path 840 may include communicationvia a graphical user interface (or other interface) associated withmobile device 230. Device 227 may similarly communicate with affiliationcomponent 210 (path 845) and with user 805 (path 850). Path 845 maytraverse customer network 815.

In some situations, one or more of the communication paths illustratedin FIG. 8 may not be useable. For example, as shown, assume that path845 is down due to a configuration issue with device 227 connecting tocustomer network 815. In this situation, mobile device 230 and/oraffiliation component 210 may assist user 805 in configuring device 227to connect to customer network 815. For example, affiliation component210, or another entity, such as a customer support technician(potentially associated with affiliation component 210), may transmitnetwork diagnostic commands through mobile device 230 (i.e., via path830 and path 835). Thus, mobile device 230 may function as a proxy toenable communications with device 227 even when the primary networkconnectivity path of device 227, path 845, is not functioning properly.Affiliation component 210 and/or a customer support technician may issuediagnostic commands through WAN 810 and towards device 227, as well ascause diagnostic commands to be issued by device 227 and towards WAN810. In one implementation, network connection parameters, associatedwith device 227, may be remotely configurable by affiliation component210 and/or the customer support technician. Advantageously, by beingable to monitor both end points of the failing network path (path 845),diagnostic and corrective actions relating to the failed network pathmay be efficiently performed.

Although system 800 is illustrated in the context of an officeenvironment, in some implementations, the concepts described withrespect to system 800 may be implemented in a home or residentialenvironment. For example, a telecommunications provider that provideshome network (e.g., Internet) connectivity via wired connections (e.g.,via fiber optic or coaxial cable connections) may resolve connectivityissues associated with the wired connections by using a mobile device ofa home user as a proxy device that enables communication with networkdevices (e.g., media servers, cable boxes, home computers, etc.)installed in the residence of the home user.

FIG. 9 is a diagram of example components of device 900. One or more ofthe devices described above (e.g., with respect to illustrated in FIGS.1-3 and 8) may include one or more devices 900. Device 900 may includebus 910, processor 920, memory 930, input component 940, outputcomponent 950, and communication interface 960. In anotherimplementation, device 900 may include additional, fewer, different, ordifferently arranged components.

Bus 910 may include one or more communication paths that permitcommunication among the components of device 900. Processor 920 mayinclude a processor, microprocessor, or processing logic that mayinterpret and execute instructions. Memory 930 may include any type ofdynamic storage device that may store information and instructions forexecution by processor 920, and/or any type of non-volatile storagedevice that may store information for use by processor 920.

Input component 940 may include a mechanism that permits an operator toinput information to device 900, such as a keyboard, a keypad, a button,a switch, a microphone, etc. Output component 950 may include amechanism that outputs information to the operator, such as a display, aspeaker, one or more light emitting diodes (“LEDs”), haptics, etc.

Communication interface 960 may include any transceiver-like mechanismthat enables device 900 to communicate with other devices and/orsystems. For example, communication interface 960 may include anEthernet interface, an optical interface, a coaxial interface, or thelike. Communication interface 960 may include a wireless communicationdevice, such as an infrared (“IR”) receiver, a Bluetooth radio, or thelike. The wireless communication device may be coupled to an externaldevice, such as a remote control, a wireless keyboard, a mobiletelephone, etc. In some embodiments, device 900 may include more thanone communication interface 960. For instance, device 900 may include anoptical interface and an Ethernet interface.

Device 900 may perform certain operations relating to one or moreprocesses described above. Device 900 may perform these operations inresponse to processor 920 executing software instructions stored in acomputer-readable medium, such as memory 930. A computer-readable mediummay be defined as a non-transitory memory device. A memory device mayinclude space within a single physical memory device or spread acrossmultiple physical memory devices. The software instructions may be readinto memory 930 from another computer-readable medium or from anotherdevice. The software instructions stored in memory 930 may causeprocessor 920 to perform processes described herein. Alternatively,hardwired circuitry may be used in place of or in combination withsoftware instructions to implement processes described herein. Thus,implementations described herein are not limited to any specificcombination of hardware circuitry and software.

The foregoing description of implementations provides illustration anddescription, but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit thepossible implementations to the precise form disclosed. Modificationsand variations are possible in light of the above disclosure or may beacquired from practice of the implementations. For example, while seriesof blocks have been described with regard to FIGS. 4-6, the order of theblocks may be modified in other implementations. Further, non-dependentblocks may be performed in parallel.

Additionally, while series of signals have been described with regard toFIGS. 7 and 8, the order of the signals may be modified in otherimplementations. Also, non-dependent signals may be sent and/or receivedin parallel. In some implementations, additional signals may betransmitted before, after, or in between the described signals.

The actual software code or specialized control hardware used toimplement an embodiment is not limiting of the embodiment. Thus, theoperation and behavior of the embodiment has been described withoutreference to the specific software code, it being understood thatsoftware and control hardware may be designed based on the descriptionherein.

Even though particular combinations of features are recited in theclaims and/or disclosed in the specification, these combinations are notintended to limit the disclosure of the possible implementations. Infact, many of these features may be combined in ways not specificallyrecited in the claims and/or disclosed in the specification. Althougheach dependent claim listed below may directly depend on only one otherclaim, the disclosure of the possible implementations includes eachdependent claim in combination with every other claim in the claim set.

Further, while certain connections or devices are shown, in practice,additional, fewer, or different, connections or devices may be used.Furthermore, while various devices and networks are shown separately, inpractice, the functionality of multiple devices may be performed by asingle device, or the functionality of one device may be performed bymultiple devices. Further, multiple ones of the illustrated networks maybe included in a single network, or a particular network may includemultiple networks. Further, while some devices are shown ascommunicating with a network, some such devices may be incorporated, inwhole or in part, as a part of the network.

To the extent the aforementioned embodiments collect, store or employpersonal information provided by individuals, it should be understoodthat such information shall be used in accordance with all applicablelaws concerning protection of personal information. Additionally, thecollection, storage and use of such information may be subject toconsent of the individual to such activity, for example, through wellknown “opt-in” or “opt-out” processes as may be appropriate for thesituation and type of information. Storage and use of personalinformation may be in an appropriately secure manner reflective of thetype of information, for example, through various encryption andanonymization techniques for particularly sensitive information.

Some implementations are described herein in conjunction withthresholds. The term “greater than” (or similar terms), as used hereinto describe a relationship of a value to a threshold, may be usedinterchangeably with the term “greater than or equal to” (or similarterms). Similarly, the term “less than” (or similar terms), as usedherein to describe a relationship of a value to a threshold, may be usedinterchangeably with the term “less than or equal to” (or similarterms). As used herein, “exceeding” a threshold (or similar terms) maybe used interchangeably with “being greater than a threshold,” “beinggreater than or equal to a threshold,” “being less than a threshold,”“being less than or equal to a threshold,” or other similar terms,depending on the context in which the threshold is used.

No element, act, or instruction used in the present application shouldbe construed as critical or essential unless explicitly described assuch. An instance of the use of the term “and,” as used herein, does notnecessarily preclude the interpretation that the phrase “and/or” wasintended in that instance. Similarly, an instance of the use of the term“or,” as used herein, does not necessarily preclude the interpretationthat the phrase “and/or” was intended in that instance. Also, as usedherein, the article “a” is intended to include one or more items, andmay be used interchangeably with the phrase “one or more.” Where onlyone item is intended, the terms “one,” “single,” “only,” or similarlanguage is used. Further, the phrase “based on” is intended to mean“based, at least in part, on” unless explicitly stated otherwise.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: receiving, by one or morecomputing devices and from a mobile device associated with a user, arequest to affiliate the user with one or more office devices associatedwith a physical workspace, wherein the request to affiliate includesidentification information of the one or more office devices, theidentification information having been obtained by the mobile device andfrom the one or more office devices; receiving context data, by the oneor more computing devices and from the mobile device, relating to acurrent context of the mobile device; authorizing, by the one or morecomputing devices and based on the context data, the request toaffiliate the user with the one or more office devices; provisioning, bythe one or more computing devices and based on successful authorization,the one or more office devices to customize the one or more officedevices for the user; receiving an indication that the mobile device isgreater than a threshold distance away from the workspace; causing,based on the received indication that the mobile device is greater thanthe threshold distance away from the workspace, suspension of operationof the one or more office devices; receiving a request to disaffiliatethe user with the one or more office devices; and disaffiliating, basedon the request, the one or more office devices by causing deletion, ofdata customizing the one or more office devices for the user, from theone or more office devices, wherein the one or more office devicesinclude a telephone and wherein the provisioning of the one or moreoffice devices further includes configuring the telephone to beassociated with a telephone number corresponding to the user.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, the method further comprising: obtaining theidentification information based on scanning of a barcode or quickresponse (QR) code provided by the one or more office devices; obtainingthe identification information based on an analysis of a sound emittedby the one or more office devices; or obtaining the identificationinformation based on connectivity with the one or more office devicesvia a short range wireless communication standard.
 3. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: transmitting, to the mobile device, anindication that affiliation with the one or more office devices wassuccessful.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the context data includesinformation regarding a location of the mobile device.
 5. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the context data includes information describingnetwork connectivity associated with the mobile device.
 6. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the context data includes an indication of officedevices that are in a vicinity of the mobile device.
 7. A systemcomprising: a non-transitory memory device storing: a plurality ofprocessor-executable instructions; and one or more processors to executethe processor-executable instructions, wherein executing theprocessor-executable instructions causes the one or more processors to:receive a request to affiliate a user with one or more office devicesassociated with a physical workspace, wherein the request to affiliateincludes identification information of the one or more office devices,the identification information having been obtained from the one or moreoffice devices; receive context data, from a mobile device associatedwith the user, relating to a current context of the mobile device;authorizing, based on the context data, the request to affiliate theuser with the one or more office devices; and provision, based onsuccessful authorization, the one or more office devices to customizethe one or more office devices for the user; receive an indication thatthe mobile device is greater than a threshold distance away from theworkspace; cause, based on the received indication that the mobiledevice is greater than the threshold distance away from the workspace,suspension of the operation of the one or more office devices; receive arequest to disaffiliate the user with the one or more office devices;and disaffiliate, based on the request, the one or more office devicesby causing deletion, of data customizing the one or more office devicesfor the user, from the one or more office devices, wherein the one ormore office devices include a telephone and wherein the provisioning ofthe one or more office devices further includes configuring thetelephone to be associated with a telephone number corresponding to theuser.
 8. The system of claim 7, wherein the processor-executableinstructions further includes instructions to cause the one or moreprocessors to: obtain the identification information based on scanningof a barcode or quick response (QR) code provided by the one or moreoffice devices; obtain the identification information based on ananalysis of a sound emitted by the one or more office devices; or obtainthe identification information based on connectivity with the one ormore office devices via a short range wireless communication standard.9. The system of claim 7, wherein the context data includes informationregarding a location of the mobile device.
 10. The system of claim 7,wherein the context data includes information describing networkconnectivity associated with the mobile device.
 11. The system of claim7, wherein the context data includes an indication of office devicesthat are in a vicinity of the mobile device.
 12. A non-transitorycomputer-readable medium containing program instructions for causing oneor more processors to: receive a request to affiliate a user with one ormore office devices associated with a physical workspace, wherein therequest to affiliate includes identification information of the one ormore office devices, the identification information having been obtainedfrom the one or more office devices; receive context data, from a mobiledevice associated with the user, relating to a current context of themobile device; authorizing, based on the context data, the request toaffiliate the user with the one or more office devices; and provision,based on successful authorization, the one or more office devices tocustomize the one or more office devices for the user; receive anindication that the mobile device is greater than a threshold distanceaway from the workspace; cause, based on the received indication thatthe mobile device is greater than the threshold distance away from theworkspace, suspension of the operation of the one or more officedevices; receive a request to disaffiliate the user with the one or moreoffice devices; and disaffiliate, based on the request, the one or moreoffice devices by causing deletion, of data customizing the one or moreoffice devices for the user, from the one or more office devices,wherein the one or more office devices include a telephone and whereinthe provisioning of the one or more office devices further includesconfiguring the telephone to be associated with a telephone numbercorresponding to the user.
 13. The non-transitory computer-readablemedium of claim 12, wherein the request additionally includesinformation relating to network connectivity of the mobile device. 14.The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12, whereinobtaining the identification of the office device further comprises atleast one of: obtaining identification information based on scanning abarcode or quick response (QR) code displayed by the office device;obtaining identification information based on analysis of a soundemitted by the office device; or obtaining identification informationbased on connectivity with the office device via a short range wirelesscommunication standard.
 15. The non-transitory computer-readable mediumof claim 12, wherein the request to provision the office deviceadditionally includes an indication of office devices that are in avicinity of the mobile device.